Wry On The Rocks

India has lost a spacecraft somewhere around the moon.  It seems that all communications with Chandrayaan-1, India’s first attempt at a moon mission, have been broken off.  A spokesman for the Indian Space Research Organization announced this serious breakdown in their $79-million-dollar project that was to be the forerunner of future efforts at space exploration.

Apparently, what happened was a malfunction in a Dell computer sensor and when the engineers called the Dell technical service line….well, that’s when the real trouble started.

I have just finished reading about the restrictions placed on many Wall Street heavy hitters which include fines at Bank of Boston’s Merrill Lynch division, memo’s at Goldman Sachs warning against “conspicuous” spending and Mrs. Bernie Madoff having to account for any purchase over $100.  After digesting this info in a leading business daily, I noticed a rather prominent ad in the same paper from a New Orleans antiques dealer, M.S. Rau, offering a “complete 19th century suit of armor in the Maximillian style, with a fully detailed horse model.”  The entire ensemble of horse and armor-clad rider stands over 7 1/2 feet tall and 7 feet long.  Now, exactly how, I wonder, does Goldman Sachs define conspicuous?